A prairie boy, Anderson played his minor and junior hockey out West in the 1950s, mostly in Saskatchewan, before heading to the Soo in Northern Ontario for the 1954-55 and 1955-56 seasons.

Anderson became only the second player after Larry Regan to be promoted from the Northern Ontario Hockey Association to the NHL in 1956-57, a move necessitated by an injury to defenceman Al Arbour and the shipping of Bucky Hollingworth to the minors.

When Arbour was healthy, it was Gord Strate who was demoted and Anderson stayed on with the Wings as fifth defenceman, a promising show of confidence in him by coach Jimmy Skinner. However, the team started one of its worst losing streaks and Anderson's playing time diminished. He hung around long enough to play twice in the playoffs, and although he played another 500 pro games, not one more was in the NHL.

He played with Eddie Shore in Springfield for a few years and then headed back west, to Vancouver, and finally returning whence he came, Saskatoon, to play senior hockey for the local Quakers. He retired in 1968.